SA: Q&A What are a strata tenants rights? Can they attend a Body Corporate Meeting?

The LookUpStrata Team

6 years ago

This SA article is about strata tenants rights in SA.

Table of Contents:

QUESTION: Can a non member of the body corporate, say a tenant, be invited along to a body corporate meeting and participate in questions about body corporate’s business affairs? In this instance, what are a strata tenants rights?

QUESTION: Can a tenant at a strata complex who isn’t a body corporate member be allowed to view the meetings minutes or is this regarded as confidential for members only?

QUESTION: I am a tenant of a SA strata scheme. We live in a self-managed strata complex. I have brought the matter of a breach to the committee at the AGM. Nothing has been done about the matter. As a tenant, do I have any power to resolve this? What are my strata tenant rights?

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Question: Can a non member of the body corporate, say a tenant, be invited along to a body corporate meeting and participate in questions about body corporate’s business affairs? In this instance, what are a strata tenants rights?

Answer: Guests of meetings are generally confined to those who may be able to provide information to the Corporation on a certain matter.

Guests of meetings are generally confined to those who may be able to provide information to the Corporation on a certain matter, such as a Contractor, Lawyer, Engineer, etc – based on a certain agenda item to be discussed.

A Tenant could potentially be invited to a Strata Meeting, however, that would be at the discretion of the Strata Members. Generally speaking, Tenants would not be invited by the group of Owners.

If the group did seek that a Tenant attends the groups meeting, the tenant would have no voting rights and would only be a guest of the group, unless the owner of the unit in question appointed this Tenant to be their Proxy for the AGM.

Strata Titles Act 1988

34—Voting at general meetings

(2a) A unitholder may nominate another person (a proxy) to attend and vote at meetings

on his or her behalf.

Tony Johnson Stratarama E: Tony@stratarama.com.au P: 08 8276 0426

Question: Can a tenant at a strata complex who isn’t a body corporate member be allowed to view the meetings minutes or is this regarded as confidential for members only?

Can a tenant at a strata complex who isn’t a body corporate member be allowed to view the meetings minutes or is this regarded as confidential for members only? I feel some of the body corporate member/s have written false & incorrect statements about me in the minutes and this should be corrected. As a strata tenant, am I within my rights to pursue this?

Answer: The minutes are taken for the Members of the Strata Corporation only, and would not be provided by the Manager to any party other than the group’s Members.

The AGM minutes should be a record of the Agenda items, the resolutions and decisions passed at the meeting. As such, if the Tenant was not at the meeting, they would not be able to state what decisions were made at the AGM.

The minutes are taken for the Members of the Strata Corporation only, and would not be provided by the Manager to any party other than the group’s Members. Each Owner would receive a copy of the minutes for their record, and those Members who were in attendance would be able to advise whether or not the Minutes were an accurate reflection of the decisions made at the meeting.

If you believe that there are inaccuracies in the recording of the minutes, you should first approach your group Secretary and Members to voice these concerns and have them addressed.

Tony Johnson Stratarama E: Tony@stratarama.com.au P: 08 8276 0426

Question: Can I resolve issues or breaches in my building? What are my strata tenant rights?

This post appears in Strata News #210.

Question: I am a tenant of a SA strata scheme. We live in a self-managed strata complex. I have brought the matter of a breach to the committee at the AGM. Nothing has been done about the matter. As a tenant, do I have any power to resolve this? What are my strata tenant rights?

I am a tenant of a SA strata scheme. We live in a self-managed strata complex. I have brought the matter of a breach to the committee at the AGM. Nothing has been done about the matter.

With no committee support, what steps can I now take to resolve the issue? The record keeper of this small body corporate is out of control and throws strata laws booklet back at me whenever I try to discuss the matter. They are also interested in only applying their own bylaws.

As a tenant, do I have any power to resolve this? What are my strata tenant rights?

Answer: Tenants are bound by the same laws as the owners, however, do not have the same rights to make decisions / influence the body corporate.

Tenants are bound by the same laws as the owners, however, do not have the same rights to make decisions / influence the body corporate.

You may seek legal advice on going to the magistrates court if the corporation is not run correctly and especially if it is not compliant with legislation.

Your best bet here is to speak with your landlord, get the landlord on your side and to speak on your behalf at the owner level.

Let the owner know what is happening, how this is affecting you and how this may affect your renewal of the tenancy.

Unfortunately, as the tenant, you do not have a lot of say but the one thing you have a total say of is, whether you continue to live in the complex.

Tyson D’Sylva Ace Body Corporate Management E: tyson.d@acebodycorp.com.au P: 08 8342 1544

This post appears in Strata News #170.

This article is not intended to be personal advice and you should not rely on it as a substitute for any form of advice.